How Many Fish?

[skipjacktunafish]

Hi

I have a 63 UK gallon tank with 9 juvenile rainbows (3 boesemans, 2 splendids, 2 neons, 2 reds), 2 small catfish, 2 gourami's, 4 tiger barb and 2 torpedo barbs. All my fish are rather small (atm) and i wondered just how many i can put in the tank without overcrowding? They all seem so happy in there with the space but is it wise to add anything else? I wanted to get a few more tiger barb but what else (if enough room) would be compatable with my fish?

Also how quickly do fish generally take to grow?

cheers

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Well your tank is roughly 75 US Gallons, I've converted the measurement to US Gallons because there is a guideline to help you work out how many fish you can put in a tank. Now it's just a rough guideline, nothing set in stone but it gives a general idea of a comfortable number of fish to have in a tank. You should aim for 1" of fish per us gallon of water, based on the adult size of the fish. So aim for 73" of fish total, here's what you have now

3 boesemans, 15"
2 splendids, not familiar with this species, assume average sized rainbow 8"
2 neons, 5"
2 reds, 10"
2 small catfish, depends on species, assume cory 6"
2 gourami's, depends on species, assume average 10"
4 tiger barb, 12"
2 torpedo barbs 12"

so that's a total of 78" meaning once your fish grow up you are going to be pretty much fully stocked. obviously if you can clarify the species i'm not sure about we can give a more accurate picture.

personally i would still add some more tiger barbs, they're much less aggressive when in a bigger group, so I'd actually get another 4. It will put your tank to a slightly heavier stocking but nothing drastic and will probably be best for all the other fish.

growth rates vary massively from species to species so there's no general guideline we can give you

 

[skipjacktunafish]

Hi and thanks for replying.

The catfish are Synodontis multipunctatus, Gourami's are 3 spot and the splendids are Melanotaenia splendida and (from what i read) are about the average sizes you mention in adulthood, so i guess thats us done then ...though will probably end up getting another tank soon.

My tiger barbs are quite peaceful and have not shown any aggresion towards the other fish, in fact they all seem to get along very well - does it change when they get older and bigger? I will definately get another 4 tiger barbs, they look good in there.

Thanks again

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok sizes are about right for the gourami's and rainbows then, the syno's will get to 6-8" each most likely.

adding another 4 tiger barbs will take you up to 90 something "'s. This is moving towards a heavy stocking, providing you have ample filtration and keep on top of tank maintenance it'll be fine, but you just need to be aware that it is heavy and you need to be careful not to miss tank cleans and stuff like that.

i'm not sure if the aggression in barbs comes on when they get older, it's certainly a possibility and as a species they are known for bullying, the bigger a group you keep them in the less likely it is for any one fish to be singled out for bullying.

 

[skipjacktunafish]

Oh, in that case i will forget the barbs for now. I wouldn't want them to be crowded or anything.

Thanks again for your advice